1. - The church Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Pilar
In the beginning of the XVIIIth century, there settled in the present area of la Recoleta, the Barefoot Recoleta Friars, an order of Spanish monks that belonged to the Order of Franciscan monks of the King of Spain. In 1732, the Jesuit architect Giovanni Andrea Bianchi designed for them the colonial style Iglesia del Pilar, later finished by Juan Bautista Prémoli.

One can still see the conserved glazed tiles Pas-de-Calais that adorn the dome of the tower on its extreme left, and on the extreme right one can see the original spherical clock still in its belfry since 1866.

Inside, on the main altar, and the six lateral choirs, one can see the impression of the late baroque style. In spite of the echoes of Europe, both in the religious, architectural and decorative sense, on the solid silver plate frontispiece with its repoussé work, there is a big central Inca style sun image. This detail, and as also evident in the faces of the angels on the altar tables, remind us of the anonymous contribution of native Indian artists in the decoration of the temple.

The architect André Millé restored it to its original state between the years 1930 and 1945.

From Avenida Quintana there is an interesting panoramic view of this church with its attractive wrought iron fence. It has been declared a National Historic Monument. It is located on Junín Street Nr. 1904.

2. - The Recoleta Cemetery.
Founded in the year 1822 in a part of the lands belonging to the Recoleta monks, originally called Miserere and later "del Norte" the north side, it is considered as one of the four most valuable cemeteries as to its architecture and artistry on a worldwide scale.

This cemetery, which was born republican, turned into the most aristocratic in the country, when epidemics struck the southern neighbourhood barrios in 1870 and 1871, which provoked the exodus of the richer families towards the north side.

The building styles of the crypts, vaults and mausoleums, belonging to the most aristocratic families and distinguished Argentinean personages, are of the neo-colonial, neo-classic and baroque type. It is a very interesting place to visit, since many of the above mentioned are real works of art.

Its neo Doric entrance gate, in the Greek style, as well as more than seventy of the crypts have been declared National Historic Monuments. Visiting hours are between 9 AM and 7 PM daily. We recommend that you do a tour with a specialised guide. It is found at the corner of Junín Street and Avenida Quintana.

3. - Monument to Torcuato de Alvear
The monument, the work of the sculptor Joris and the bronze cast foundry master Lauer, was inaugurated in the year 1900 to honour the first superintendent of the city of Buenos Aires. It is found on the Plaza Intendente Alvear. At the base of the column of the monument one can find the bust of Torcuato de Alvear, and on the top part one can see the winged figure that represents La Gloria - the Glory. The mortal remains of Torcuato de Alvear and of his son, Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, who became president of Argentina, rest in the family mausoleum in the Recoleta Cemetery.

4. - The Recoleta Cultural Centre
On top of what used to be the old cloister of the Recoleto fathers in the year 1732, since 1980 there is a prestigious and well-visited Cultural Centre. One of its characteristics is that the building conserves the colonial baroque style, and surrounding the Naranjos (orange tree) and the la Fuente (fountain) courtyards one can find important sculptures.

It holds 25 auditoria and offers art exhibits of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and movies, amongst other artistic manifestations. Opening hours are from Tuesdays through Fridays between 2 PM and 9 PM; and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 AM and 9 PM.

Within this Centre you will find the Participative Science Museum, which is open to the public Mondays through Fridays between 9 AM and 4 PM; and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays between 3 PM and 8 PM. It is located beside the Church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, on Junín Street Nr. 1930.

5. - The Bullrich Patio
Historical and traditional building, with a double entrance, one from the majestic Posadas Street Nr. 1245 or from the elegant Avenida del Libertador Nr. 750, where you can also find a shopping mall with the most prestigious national and international brands on sale. You will find a variety of products of the music industry, books, jewellery, quality fashion lingerie, furs, leather articles and all types of formal and informal clothing.

The architect Waldorp, hired for this purpose by the Bullrich family, built it at the beginning of the XIXth century. In the beginning, it was an auction house for all kinds of collectable items, and even auctions of purebred horses were held there.

The building has six modern movie houses with the latest technology. There is also an attractive food court where there is everything from fast food to menus of haute cuisine. There is also a special children's playground with many interesting novelties.

The shops are open all week from 10 AM to 9 PM. The food court is open Mondays through Fridays from 10 AM until past midnight. Saturdays and Sundays closing hours are extended until 1:30 AM (past midnight).

6. - Alvear Palace Hotel
Built during the so-called Belle Époque, it has become a symbol of that time. It has eleven floors, five basements, as well as splendid soberly decorated reception rooms and restaurants. The rooms are done in the intermediate styles between Louis XIV and Louis XVI, and some of them contain famous pieces of decorative French art.

In 1984 a group of Argentinean businessmen took over the hotel. The original style was conserved but a complete renovation and a sophisticated technological update was carried out.

The hotel has 210 rooms, including 125 suites elegantly decorated in Louis XV and Empire style. It has a business centre, health club and you can enjoy the finest cuisine in L´Orangerie, Jardín D´Hiver, and in the only Relais Gourmand in Argentina: La Bourgogne, with its exquisite French cuisine, the work of the unparalleled French chef Jean Paul Bondoux.

In 1993 the Alvear Palace Hotel was designated member of The Leading Hotels of The World. A new period came into being and the challenge of a permanent search for excellence. It is located at Avenida Alvear Nr. 1891.

7. - Avenidas Quintana and Alvear
These elegant Avenidas, running parallel to each other, are of typical European influence, mainly Parisian. And they are worth the visit. They have traditional mansions and high class high rise apartment buildings, as well as recognised international brand name boutiques showing the products of, for example, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hermes, Kenzo, Escada, Nina Ricci and Louis Vuitton, amongst others.

Some of the haute couture fashion designer houses have even had their furniture pieces brought from their main offices abroad.

The area was chosen by the traditional "Porteña" families to build their homes. For this reason you will find mansions dating back to the end of the XIXth century and the start of the XXth century. Amongst the principal mansions you can find the Álzaga Unzué mansion (at Cerrito Street Nr. 1455); the building that belonged to the Ortiz Basualdo family, today occupied by the French embassy at Cerrito Street Nr.1390; and the so called Palacio Pereda, today holding the Brazilian Embassy at Arroyo Street Nr.1130.

8. - The Village Recoleta Complex
It is an entertainment and recreation centre, inaugurated in 1999. It has modern movie houses, bookstores, music stores, theme bars, restaurants, pubs, a food court and a parking garage. It is located between the Vicente López, Junín and Uriburu Streets. We recommend you to visit it, as well as most all other places of interest in town, not only during daytime hours but also at night.

9. - Buenos Aires Design
This is an area very popular with tourists, surrounded by public gardens, museums and cultural centres. It is also an interior decoration centre with everything you may wish for your home and its decoration. On its two levels Buenos Aires Design holds over sixty commercial outlets with the most important designer and decoration brand names as well as sixteen gondolas, which follow the trends of the architectural trade.

This proposal is complemented by a spectacular terrace of three thousand square metres (square yards), where you will find twelve restaurants that offer a variety of gastronomical delight, from a typical traditional Argentinean "asador" barbecue meat roast pit to a Hard Rock Café outlet.

It is located on Avenida Pueyrredón 2501. It is open Mondays through Saturdays between 10 AM to 9 PM, and Sundays between Noon and 9 PM. The restaurant terrace is open to the public Sundays through Thursdays between 11 AM to 1 AM (past midnight), and Fridays, Saturdays and on the eve of holidays from 11 AM till 3 AM. (Past midnight).

10. - Monument of France to Argentina.
On occasion of the centenary of the Revolución de Mayo in 1810, the French community donated this monument, which is found in the centre of the Plaza Francia, between Levene Street and the Avenida del Libertador. It is an allegory to the glory of France and Argentina. Notable are the bronze bas-reliefs and the figures of red granite and marble sculpted by the hands of the famous French sculptor Peynot. The Plaza Francia is a very picturesque place, with old river banks that end up on Avenida Libertador, and part of a very attractive green park area to wander about in.

11. - National Halls of Culture and Expositions or the National Hall of Fine Arts. (Palais de Glace)
It was built in the year 1911 to hold an ice skating area (thence its name); it was later transformed into a popular dance hall, where after 1912, Tango reigned supreme.

The palace halls were modified by the architect Alejandro Bustillo and inaugurated as the Hall of Fine Arts in 1932. It is found on Posadas Street Nr. 1725 and since 1978 is occupied by the National Halls of Culture and Expositions or the National Hall of Fine Arts.
The halls are big circular spaces illuminated by day by their glass cupolas. Temporary exhibits of paintings and sculptures are held there. Close to this palace you will find the Plaza Alvear, with a very nice view of the area.

Opening hours are Mondays through Fridays from 1 PM to 8 PM, and Saturdays and Sundays from 3 PM to 8 PM. Tel.: 4805-4354.

12. - The Carlos Thays Park
With one of its sides located at the corner of Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Callao, it is an attractive park situated in a very picturesque part of town. In it one can find the modern sculpture Masculine Torso - Torso Masculino, made by the world famous Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero.

In between this attractive park named in honour of the famous French landscape painter Carlos Thays, and the southern wing of the Faculty of Law and Social Science, one can also find the famous sculpture the Captive "La Cautiva", close to the intersection of the Avenidas Pueyrredón and Figueroa Alcorta.

The sculpture is the work of the Argentinean artist Lucio Correa Morales, who portrayed indigenous natives and criollo people. The sculpture shows a captive native woman sitting on a broken adobe wall looking with melancholy and pain on the ruins of her home, which she will never more live in. She is accompanied only by her children and a dog.

In this area you will also find, behind the above mentioned Faculty, the Municipal Centre for Exhibitions, where important exhibitions and fairs are held.

13. - The General Carlos María de Alvear Monument
This imposing equestrian monument, designed by the talented French artist Bourdelle, can be found in the corner of Posadas Street and Avenida Alvear. There is an interesting view of it from the old river embankment at the Recoleta. The statue, which arrived from France in 1925, rests on a pedestal of polished granite, the work of the architect Alejandro Bustillo (1889-1982).

14. - Plazoleta San Martín de Tours
This small plaza or square, which name evokes the patron saint of the city of Buenos Aires, and which one side is made up of the old river embankment extending at length from Avenida Alvear to Posadas Street, has many trees and plants that were planted by the well known Recoleta cloistered monks during the XVIIIth century, when they lived in the Pilar monastery. Close by, in between the Avenidas Alvear and Quintana, on the plaza Ramón J. Cárcano, you will find the monument to the memory of Ramón Falcón, chief of police of the city in 1909. In that year, Falcón was killed by the anarchist assassin Simón Radowitzky, who was arrested and sent off to serve out his sentence in the Ushuaia prison, located in the city with the same name in Tierra del Fuego, in the southernmost tip of the country and the continent.

15. - The National Museum of Fine Arts - Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA) and the Plaza Urquiza
The National Museum of Fine Arts opened its doors in the year 1896 under the directorship of the painter Eduardo Schiaffino. It is an institution that holds the main cultural heritage of the country and also one of the principal museums on the whole continent. In its 32 exhibition halls divided up between the first up to the third floors there are always exhibitions going on, displaying national and international works of art such as paintings, sculptures and etchings, amongst others.

Apart from these exhibits, on the ground floor there is the pavilion of temporary exhibitions, the hall of architectural exhibits and the two sculpture yards with a magnificent view towards the Avenida Figueroa Alcorta and the Faculty of Law and Social Science.

The present building holding the museum was restored in the year 1933, standing in the midst of the parks and public gardens of the Recoleta. Later on it was modified and enlarged during the forties, sixties and eighties. The exhibit halls are not only spacious, they are also well illuminated, which allows for less eye fatigue and need to move around of the visitors, concepts that have been recently incorporated and adopted by other modern museum buildings in Europe and in the United States of America. The museum has opened subsidiaries in the interior region of Argentina, in the cities of Córdoba and Neuquén.

It has a permanent very complete exhibition of Argentinean works of art from the XIXth and XXth centuries of, amongst others, the following artists: Prilidiano Pueyrredón, Pellegrini, Morel, Della Valle, Sívori, Spilimbergo. There is also on permanent display an important collection of masterpieces by foreign artists, amongst which we can mention El Greco, Goya, Manet, Monet, Degas, Rodín, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh.

Opening hours are Tuesdays through Fridays and also Sundays between half past noon and 7:30 PM; and Saturdays between 9 AM to 7 PM. Guided tours on Tuesdays through Fridays and also Sundays at 4 PM, 5 PM and 6 PM, and Saturdays at 5 PM and 6 PM. In the museum shops and in the Association of Friends of Fine Arts, you can acquire reproductions, catalogues, art books and posters.

It is located on Avenida del Libertador Nr. 1473. Tel.: 4803-0802/8814/4691.

16. - Plaza Mitre and its Equestrian Monument to Bartolomé Mitre
It is located in the intersection of Agüero Street and Avenida Libertador. The bronze equestrian figure represents the founder of the newspaper La Nación and former president of Argentina between the years 1862 and 1868, surrounded of allegories made out of white marble, all on a base of polished red granite.

17. - Plaza Chile and Plaza Uruguay
These two large plazas are separated by the Tagle Street and are flanked by the Avenidas del Libertador and Figueroa Alcorta. They make up the limit of two beautiful barrios well worth the stroll: Palermo (Plaza Chile) and Recoleta (Plaza Uruguay). In the Plaza República Oriental del Uruguay, apart from the varied species of plants and luxuriant trees growing there, one can find the monument to José Gervasio Artigas (1764-1850), considered the founder of the Uruguayan nation.

18. - The National Museum of Decorative Art. - Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo
It is an impressive building in neo classical French style, built in 1911 as a residence. The mansion resembles the buildings on the Place de la Concorde in Paris and the architect René Sergent designed it. The most important European decorators of those times left their stamp on each of the magnificent rooms in this building.

The Argentinean government bought it in 1937 to make it into a museum. The collection, which includes Flemish tapestries, porcelains, ivory carvings, silver and glassware and baroque style furniture pieces. Most of these objects were the property of the aristocratic family that used to be the owners of the building: Matías Errázuriz and Josefina de Alvear.

The entrance portico to the present museum is inspired by the design of the Petit Trianon of the Versailles Palace, in France.

We suggest you to take a good look at the impressive El Greco oil painting in the Grand Hall on the ground floor, which is also the biggest room in the palace. The main rooms of this palace end up in the terrace with a panoramic view across the green woods of Palermo.

In the museum basement there is an interesting art bookshop.

It is open every day to the public between the 2 PM and 7 PM. We recommend you to take a guided tour of its six rooms: the Antechamber, the Study, the Grand Hall, the Louis XIV Dining Room, Ball rooms and Sitting room. This you can do Tuesdays through Sundays at 4:30 PM. It is located on Avenida del Libertador Nr. 1902. Tel.: 4806-8306.

19. - The National Library - Biblioteca Nacional
It was inaugurated in 1992. It occupies a surface of 45,000 square metres (Square yards) and it holds close to 1,8 million books, which makes it into one of the largest and most important on the American continent.

This magnificent building is placed in a park, now called the Reader's Plaza, and which used to be part of the Presidential Residency from 1943 to 1955, during the then Argentinean presidents, starting with Presidente Austria up till Agüero. It is a 13-story building. It holds an auditorium, art gallery and a newspaper library. It also has a special section for Braille readers.

Visiting hours are Mondays through Saturdays from 8 AM to 9 PM and Sundays between noon and 8 PM. Mondays through Fridays you can take a guided tour at 4 PM. It is located on Agüero Street Nr. 2502. Tel.: 4806-1929 / 4806-4721.

20. - The building of the Automóvil Club Argentino (ACA)
This building with its 12 floors and 3 basements was built in 1943 as the headquarters for the Argentinean Automobile Club - Automóvil Club Argentino, a non profit organisation, which offers various services to its members all over the country. The talented engineer Vilar designed the building.

One of its major attractions is the Automobile Museum - Museo del Automóvil, where one can see vintage cars that used to circulate on the streets of the country. Amongst those, the first car ever in Buenos Aires, from 1895, which belonged to Dalmiro Varela Castex. Nine years later, in the year of 1904, the ACA was founded and there was by then quite e lot of cars around town.

You can visit from Mondays through Fridays from 10 AM to 5 PM. It is not open on Sundays or holidays. In its Tourist Department you can find road maps and information on tourism activities in Argentina. It is located on Avenida del Libertador Nr. 1850. Tel.: 4801-1837.

21. - The Papal Nuncio's Palace - Nunciatura Apostólica
A lordly palace located on Avenida Alvear Nr 1637. The architect Le Monnier finished building it in 1909 as a special assignment for Juan Antonio Fernández and Rosa de Anchorena, which travelled to Europe to settle there and thus never lived in it.

From 1922 to 1928, during the presidency of Máximo Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, this picturesque building was rented to serve as his residence.

In 1930 Adelia Harilaos de Olmos, who finally donated it to the Vatican in 1949 to be used as its diplomatic Apostolic See, acquired it. The pope John Paul II stayed there during his two visits to Argentina in 1982 and in 1987.

22. - Floraris Genérica (The Giant Flower of Buenos Aires)
On the Plaza Naciones Unidas (United Nations Square), at the confluence of the Avenidas Libres del Sur, Tagle and Figueroa Alcorta, there is a giant flower made of aluminium and steel. Its approximate weight is 18 metric tonnes or almost 4000 lbs. It is 23 metres high (approximately 50 ft). It was donated by the Argentinean architect Eduardo Catalano, and it was set up in the year 2002.

The immense flower is illuminated at night by 60 spotlights, and is reflected in a pool of water of 45 metres (approximately 100 ft) across surrounded by walkways and paths. It is part of a park area of approximately 4 hectares (almost ten acres) with the TV Channel 7 building and the imposing Faculty of Law and Social Science standing guard over it.

The enormous metal construct is made up of six petals that each weigh approximately 3,500 kilos (almost a thousand pounds each) and is mounted on a conical structure. Inside are the pistils, made up of four conically shaped columns of varying heights. The internal illumination is made up of two reflector lights per petal and two concentrating reflectors.

The grass is kept green by a subterranean irrigation system made up of sixty sprinklers and eighty nozzles.

The giant flower is moved by a complex mechanism that makes the petals open up with the first rays of the sun until it is completely open. It reaches a diameter of 32 metres (almost 100 ft.); then it closes again at dusk until only 16 metres (50 ft) across. Its movements are controlled by a computer system.

HOW TO GET THERE
Bus lines
2, 9, 10, 20, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 33, 46, 53, 54, 61, 64, 86, 93, 126, 142, 143, 152 and 159.

Neighbourhoods La Recoleta